Padres 2016 Season Preview: Reviewing offseason trades and waiver claims

In continuing our review of the San Diego Padres' offseason transactions, we'll now walk through the major trades made by the team.

AJ Preller's first couple of big moves this offseason came back to back. On November 12th he traded right-handed reliever Joaquin Benoit to the Seattle Mariners for two minor leaguers, Enyel De Los Santos (RHP) and Nelson Ward (SS). The next day, closer Craig Kimbrel was traded to the Boston Red Sox for more minor leaguers, Carlos Asuaje (3B), Logan Allen (LHP), Manuel Margot (CF), and Javier Guerra (SS). The most significant parts of these trades was not the loss of two relatively high-profile relief pitchers, but rather the acquisition of two shortstop prospects. Guerra in particular is a notable addition to the Padres organization this season, and a guy many believe and hope is the shortstop of the future for the team. Also, Guerra was ranked the 52nd top prospect by Baseball America while Margot was ranked 56th.

The next big trade came in December, as first baseman Yonder Alonso and lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski went to the Oakland Athletics for southpaws Drew Pomeranz and Jose Torres, as well as a player to be named later. The veteran Pomeranz is a front-runner for one of the Padres' final two rotation spots while Torres will start the season in the minors. This trade was completed eight days later when the Padres selected outfielder Jabari Blash as their PTBNL. The Rule 5 Draft pick has been crazy impressive this Spring and if he continues to perform at such a high level he could find himself in a starting role this season.

Up next was a trade that sent second baseman Jedd Gyorko, plus an extra $7.5 million, to the St. Louis Cardinals for center fielder Jon Jay. Gyorko was once seen as a future star for the Padres, which is why they signed him to a long-term contract in 2014 to lock him up and keep his talent with the organization. But that talent never seemed to pan out and Gyorko became trade bait throughout the 2015 season. Preller was finally able to set up the deal to send him to the Cards, much to the dismay of some of the Padres fans who continued to have hope for him.

December also brought the end of right-hander Casey Kelly's time with the Padres. Kelly, who experienced intermittent periods of injury and a Tommy John surgery to boot, was never able to quite find his place with the Padres, though he definitely had his fans among the Friar Faithful. Kelly, along with minor league catcher Ricardo Rodriguez, was sent to the Atlanta Braves for catcher Christian Bethancourt, who is expected to split time behind the plate with Derek Norris while Austin Hedges hones his craft in Triple-A El Paso this season.

The last "big" trade of the offseason didn't happen until February. Odrisamer Despaigne, coming off a rollercoaster of a season, was sent to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for another right-handed reliever, Jean Cosme. The movewas made to free up roster space after the Padres picked up Fernando Rodney out of free agency.

Every trade, waiver claims, and release made by the Padres this offseason: